National Summit on Your City's Families

The biennial National Summit on Your City's Families is the nation's largest gathering of municipal leaders who are working to improve the lives of children, youth, and families in their communities. The 2011 Summit was held Nov. 10-12 in Phoenix as one of four concurrent conferences during NLC’s annual Congress of Cities and Exposition.

The biennial National Summit on Your City's Families offers city officials a unique opportunity to learn effective and promising approaches for ensuring that every child has opportunities to learn and grow, a safe neighborhood to call home, a healthy lifestyle and environment, and a financially fit family in which to thrive. Summit sessions focus on the following topics and more:

Education from Early Childhood through College

Afterschool and Out-of-School Time Programs

Positive Engagement and Support of Immigrant Families

Public Safety and Violence Prevention

Reengagement Strategies for Disconnected Youth

Childhood Obesity Prevention

Health and Wellness Initiatives

Poverty Reduction and Economic Self-Sufficiency

Access to the Financial Mainstream

Participants have access to a rich array of plenary sessions, workshops, site visits, trainings and roundtable discussions focused on strategies that work for cities and towns of all sizes.

Why You Should Be ThereStrong cities and towns are built with more than bricks and mortar or asphalt. At the foundation of a prosperous, vibrant city are strong families living in neighborhoods where every child can thrive.

The Summit will help mayors, councilmembers and other local officials learn about innovative solutions to help young people and families succeed in today's challenging economic environment. In the process, Summit sessions will give city leaders the tools they need to improve local quality of life, attract and retain residents, promote economic vitality and build safe and healthy communities.

Participants will have the opportunity to attend high-quality learning and peer networking opportunities focused on the pressing challenges facing cities and towns, from painful budget cuts and a weak job market to rapid demographic change fueled by immigration and an economy that increasingly rewards educational attainment.

Who Should Attend?Because an entire community shares responsibility for the well-being of children and youth, local leaders benefit most from the Summit when they attend as part of a city team. Teams may include:

City teams of three or more local partners can work with a facilitator at the Summit to establish priorities and plans for taking action upon returning home. Summit participants will gain inspiration and new ideas for taking action as they connect with national experts, NLC staff, and peers from cities of all sizes and regions of the country.

"Great speakers and sessions. The contacts and conversations with people from other cities and everything I learned from the Summit will be a huge resource as we move forward with our work."

- Alderman from North Little Rock, Ark., on the 2009 National Summit on Your City's Families

"This was one of the best conferences I have attended in my 8 years on our City Council. Thanks!"

- Councilmember from Dubuque, Iowa, on the 2009 National Summit on Your City's Families